Karachi, September 29, 2025 – The North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry (NKATI) has strongly appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to extend the statutory return filing deadline until December 31, 2025.
NKATI President, Faizal Moiz Khan, in a formal request, urged the Prime Minister, the Federal Minister for Finance, and the Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately announce an extension in the deadline for filing income tax returns. He emphasized that the business community is under severe strain due to recent torrential rains and flooding, which have disrupted commercial, industrial, and agricultural activities across Pakistan.
Khan explained that under such extraordinary circumstances, meeting the current return filing requirements is not feasible. He further criticized the FBR for introducing last-minute changes to income tax return forms as recently as September 24, saying these modifications created unnecessary confusion for taxpayers already struggling to comply with regulations.
According to him, even if the new forms are accepted, the effective deadline for filing returns would technically fall on December 24 under the law. Therefore, NKATI has urged the government to take a pragmatic approach by extending the return filing deadline to December 31, 2025.
He stressed that this extension would not only provide timely relief to the business sector but also encourage broader tax compliance. A practical extension, Khan argued, would ultimately increase the number of returns filed and contribute positively to the national revenue base.